Guidelines to plan your trip to Asia.
In this article I am referring guidelines to plan a visit to Asian countries Philippines and Vietnam. Are you traveling to Asia for work or tourism?
You do not belong to the Asian country you are flying to?
Then the most important part is VISA 😊
For tourism or business travel, there is no Visa on arrival concept (for most of the passports).
So you have to apply your visa minimum 2 weeks in advance (for safety I recommend 3 weeks in advance). Visa procedure can be found online https://www.philippine-embassy.org.sg/consular/visa/important-visa-information/ | https://vietnamvisa.govt.vn/vietnam-visa/how-to-apply/.
For me, I was travelling for business purpose, so my company took care of it well 😊
After you apply for visa, simultaneously you can book an appointment to get vaccination which is much recommended if you travel to most of the Asian countries.
I just booked an appointment in Vaccination center in my country, Netherlands at GGD.
Most important when you book an appointment for vaccination, make sure you book atleast 5 days prior to the departure date; hmm want to know the reason? Your body pains for 2 days; also it takes time for vaccination to settle down. So better to be earlier 😉
Vaccination is always good since it will protect you from diseases, allergies, infections making your journey peaceful.
Since I stay in Netherlands, I am dwelling in the cold temperatures for maximum time of the year and having summer temperature rising more or less 25degrees for some days.
In Vietnam, Philippines its opposite. It’s hot upto 36degrees averagely throughout the year except when it drops during winter (Nov-feb). These countries are also humid.
Taking these factor in consideration, you have to pack your bags accordingly!!
But don’t worry, I will help you for most essential things that I considered while packing my bags & travelling in Philippines and Vietnam.
The periods I was travelling was in May; I wanted to be prepared for extreme heat.
- Sunscreen lotion: Lotion of well known brand with SPF factor 50+ to 70+ is must must!!
- Good quality sunglasses covering your eyes since you will see bright shinning sun for most part of the day
- Scarf/hat: Cover your head with cotton scarf or hat to protect from heat
- Footwear: Keep chappals (easy to wear and expose to air), sport shoes(I don’t wear socks since it warms my feet instead of cooling it down. It’s your choice to carry) or sandals for walking.
- Clothes:
- Light coloured clothes to radiate heat; like add white, lemon yellow, aqua blue, light pink, light green , light blue colors.
- Clothes keep it loose so that they don’t make you uncomfortable when you sweat.
- Use more cotton material over others. Cotton socks sweat and passes the outside air through the clothes giving your body a comfortable feeling. Other materials will make you more sweaty, giving a bad odor ☹
- Type of dress: If you are for tourism, prefer shorts and loose shirts (all cotton), or long cotton trousers. For women you can also go for skirts, dresses, shorts; make sure it’s not skinny as it can stick to body due to sweating!
- Don’t forget your swimsuit!
- Perfume: You need to carry a long lasting perfume to help you from body odors. Also try underarm perfume roller!
- Drinks:
- Carry sealed water bottles. Buy it from well-known supermarkets. Don’t trust roadside water sellers or water served in restaurants. It may not impact locals, but to the tourists you can fall sick with it!
- Keep drinking water/packed juices throughout the day as much as you can and stay well hydrated.
- My doctor suggested me to drink at least one can of Coke per day! Yes! The reason is it has some substance that kills the bacteria in your body!😆
- Avoid ice if possible in juices, colas, beers or any other drink. I found it risky.
- Food:
- Also an easiest source to carry contamination or germs.
- I won’t say eat always in big restaurants, but try to consume food in restaurants where you are guaranteed that food preparation is done well. Again for locals they have good immunity against it, but for us it might not be the case. As we are tripping for short duration, health care is essential.
- Others: Carry mosquito repellent lotion, other medicines which you need them. I would suggest carry medicine for stomach problems, electrolyte powder, paracetamol.
- Stay: Hotels with 4+ star are good to stay. I stayed at Hotel Crimson, Manila, Philippines, https://crimsonhotel.com/manila and Hotel New world Saigon, in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam https://saigon.newworldhotels.com/en/. Room rate was ~ 75-90 euros per day including breakfast!! It’s worth it.
Last but most important thing to do is ENJOY!!! Experience incredible ASIA.
I hope you like this article and hope it will help you. Share it and post me your comments!!
Modern Roots 